


Play My Heartbeat

by AnnaWatermelon



Series: Café Hwarang [3]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 01:25:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaWatermelon/pseuds/AnnaWatermelon
Summary: Jonghyun and Taemin's relationship continues to develop and grow.





	Play My Heartbeat

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 

Taemin’s heart pounded in his ears, against his ribs, in the tips of his fingers. “I-I was just going back to work…” His eyes followed the arm blocking his way, its hand pressed onto the wall, all the way up to Jonghyun’s face.

 

“What makes you think you can do that?” Jonghyun said, toothy grin and dark eyes eating him up from the inside, leaving him hollow. “We had an agreement, you know.”

 

“Hyung…” Taemin forced the lump in his throat down, grimacing as it fell, “...please, not here, people will see…”

 

“Let them see.” Jonghyun leaned in closer and Taemin could feel his hot breath on his lips, suppressing a shiver as his chest tightened and breath quickened. “Who wouldn’t want to watch such a cute boy getting kissed?”

 

Wait, what? That wasn’t -

 

Taemin’s thoughts were pushed away when Jonghyun grabbed his chin, forcing their eyes to meet, and he fought his instinct to shut them. His knees gave out when Jonghyun was so close their noses touched, and he would’ve fallen if not for the wall he was pressed up against. He dug his nails into his sweaty palms and held his breath, waiting for this to be over.

 

A forceful tilt of his head. Pressure against his lips, too stiff to be someone else’s. Four girls screaming five feet away. And then it was over, just as sudden as it had started.

 

“Thank you, we hope you enjoyed our scene!” Jonghyun’s bright tone returned as he bowed towards the customers, all of them either flushed pink or hiding behind their hands. Taemin felt nauseous as he thanked them as well, each bend at the waist churning his stomach more than the last. It was only his fourth scene but it was so much worse than the others, and it had everything to do with him and the man who was currently smiling at him so wide his eyes turned to crescents. “You did a great job, Taemin-ah.” He said, ruffling Taemin’s hair.

 

Taemin blinked back at him. “Thanks, hyung.” He tried giving a smile back, not nearly as difficult as he thought it would be. Probably because the scene was finally over and he didn’t have to worry about looking stupid in front of his boyfriend anymore. He let out a breath and started to make his way towards his section of tables, only to be stopped by a hand wrapping around his. Startled, he turned around, fully prepared to question Jonghyun, only for his words to catch in his throat.

 

The coldness that had been staring him down during the scene had melted, leaving Jonghyun’s eyes a warm brown with gold highlights that filled Taemin’s heart, let it swell in his chest. He smiled again, another different one from the first two, one Taemin couldn’t describe the emotion of. It made him blush regardless and look away, suddenly shy, not feeling teased like with the first one, but not feeling lifted up like with the second. If anything, he felt content.

 

“Your hair is messed up, sorry.” Jonghyun said and his playful smile returned, hitting Taemin with whiplash at the sudden yet barely there change. He wished he had more time to look, to try and figure Jonghyun out, but…

 

Now there were fingers running through his hair, pulling it this way and that, and the sounds of the cafe were completely drowned out by Taemin’s heartbeat. Jonghyun’s lower lip jutted out as he patted Taemin’s hair down, oblivious to the effect he was having on him. He wanted to relax into the feeling, to close his eyes and let Jonghyun keep touching him in such a soft way, but he was at work and Jonghyun was just trying to help. He nearly whined when it stopped, but Jonghyun had done what he wanted to, and was expecting Taemin to do what he needed to.

 

“All better now!” Jonghyun grinned, and he was so cute it was nearly impossible for Taemin to stay disappointed. Nearly.

 

“Thanks, hyung.” He rushed the words out, turning away and standing straight. His arms stayed frozen at his sides the whole time he walked back towards his waiting area, only moving once he had to grab some mugs two customers had left behind. Even when he gathered the dishes into his hands, he could still feel the hairs on his neck standing up. But he didn’t dare look to see if someone was watching him, because if he did, he wasn’t sure what he’d do with the confirmation. He didn’t even think he wanted to know.

 

When Taemin sneaked a peek and saw Jonghyun working the cash register like he was supposed to, he wasn’t sure if it was relief or disappointment that lifted the weight off his shoulders.

* * *

  


“I saw you had your first scene with Jonghyun hyung today, huh?” Kibum side-eyed Taemin with a smirk as he emptied the cash register. They were supposed to be closing up together but Jonghyun was off cleaning tables and Jinki and Minho were nowhere to be found. Kibum didn’t seem concerned.

 

“Yeah?” Taemin scrunched his face at him, arm still unconsciously wiping circles across the counter, not paying attention in favor of focusing on Kibum.

 

“How was that?” Kibum smiled wider, like there was an inside joke between them that only Taemin didn’t know about.

 

Embarrassing? Terrifying? His worst fear for days finally coming true? “Fine?” That wasn’t entirely a lie; he was still able to read his lines. Too bad he had no idea what he looked or sounded like.

 

“Just fine?” There was a lilt in his voice and Taemin didn’t want to play this game. He wasn’t like them. This wasn’t something he was used to and everything is unfamiliar and intimidating to him. He needed a clear answer.

 

“Where are you going with this, hyung?” It was better to just get this over with. Taemin blew his hair out of his face, bicep starting to ache from how hard he was pressing down on the counter.

 

“I mean, I know you guys are dating.” Kibum’s sentence dragged at the end, signaling he still had more to say, completely oblivious to the way it made Taemin’s throat close up. It wasn’t new information that Kibum already knew this, so he had no idea why he was reacting this way. “And sometimes, when I’m paired with one of my boyfriends, we…” His eyes shone and Taemin gulped, “...play around a bit, you know?”

 

Taemin switched his gaze to the counter he was still cleaning so that Kibum couldn’t see him blush. He really hoped the places his mind were wandering to weren’t what Kibum had meant. “Play?” He asked, knowing it was only way to find out.

 

“Yeah, like…” Kibum tilted his head in thought, hands moving as he spoke, “I might say something off-script to see how they’ll react, or maybe feel them up a bit, or sometimes even kiss them for real.” His grin pulled at his cheeks again. “I try not to do that last one too often, though, it always makes me want to go further.”

 

Shit, okay, that was a lot to take in. Taemin’s ears rang and his face felt like it was on fire. “Oh…” He said, just to say something, trying so hard not to think about what he wanted to.

 

But he wanted to so badly.

 

Kibum shut the register closed with his hip, now turning to face Taemin completely. Not that Taemin was facing him, though, hyperfocused on a light brown stain on the counter. “They’re okay with it, of course, I asked beforehand. I’d never try and make them uncomfortable on purpose.”

 

Taemin never doubted that Kibum was a good person, but he still appreciated that Kibum clarified. It didn’t fix the way his mind was clouding over, and he couldn’t seem to scrape this damn stain off no matter how hard he tried…

 

“Is this okay? You can tell me if I’m saying too much.” Kibum said, and now Taemin met his eyes, saw him leaning against the register, soft expression on his face.

 

He looked away again. “No, it’s fine…” Taemin choked before he could get that last part out, but it really was fine. If anything he was glad Kibum felt comfortable enough to open up to him. He just really had to fight his brain to not think about what would happen if someone else did those things…

 

“Wanna know a secret?” Kibum’s smile hadn’t changed when Taemin turned to him again, but his eyes had. They shone again, like he was so excited to get this next part out he could barely wait another second. Taemin nodded.

 

Kibum leaned down and cupped his hand behind Taemin’s ear, not touching him and not close enough to make Taemin feel his breath, but just enough for him to hear Kibum say in a stage whisper: “Jinki hyung is an exhibitionist.”

 

Taemin heart froze along with his body.

 

He was still fixed in place when Kibum headed towards the back room, and he might have told Taemin what he was doing, but he couldn’t understand with his thoughts shouting in his head. He had a pretty good idea who he was going to see in there, anyways. He called over his shoulder before disappearing, one last sentence to shift the way he saw the world. “Also, that stain doesn’t come out.”

* * *

  


This was the third day of work and the third day Jonghyun was walking Taemin home. He wondered if it was becoming a routine of theirs. With the way their relationship was going, he sincerely hoped it was.

 

“So the car was literally headed straight for that nun and I was screaming at her through the security camera even though she couldn’t hear me, and she backflipped over the car like it was nothing!!” The other thing that had also unfortunately become a habit was Jonghyun walking backwards whenever he wanted to talk to Taemin, which was often. “It was a really weird Easter.”

 

Taemin laughed at the visual while still keeping an eye out for things Jonghyun might run into, leading Jonghyun into laughing as well. “The most exciting Easter for me was just when my aunt threw my cousin’s jacket on a space heater by accident.” Taemin said.

 

“Did it get burnt?”

 

“The smoke coming off of it triggered the sprinklers and I vividly remember thinking it would make a sick music video.” They laughed again, Jonghyun turning to face forward, falling into step beside Taemin, finally letting him breathe. Now he just had to make sure he didn’t run into anything himself, which honestly was a million times more difficult than watching out for Jonghyun.

 

“Did you want to be a singer back then?” Jonghyun asked, fog blowing out of his mouth, their feet crushing the snow in perfect rhythm.

 

Taemin hid his chin underneath his scarf, muffling his voice. “I wanted to be Michael Jackson.” He said, freezing cold ears suddenly becoming warm.

 

“Aww~” Jonghyun cooed and Taemin rolled his eyes at him. Lots of kids wanted to be celebrities growing up. For him, it was just something to fantasize about and nothing more. “I don’t blame you though, he’s probably the most famous person ever.”

 

“I don’t want to be famous.” The words just slipped out of Taemin without a second thought and he bit his tongue. It wasn’t something Jonghyun needed to know and explaining himself would just make things awkward. He held his breath and hoped Jonghyun would just take that at face value.

 

Those five seconds Jonghyun took to think of a reply felt more like five hours. “And what about now, what do you want to be now?”

 

Taemin snorted, relief flooding over him. “I just want a nice apartment and a cute boyfriend.”

 

“Well it’s a good thing you already have one of those!” Jonghyun started walking backwards to let Taemin see just how giddy that statement made him, smile so wide Taemin thought his face might rip.

 

Taemin gave his own smile, mouth tilting to one side. “Yeah, my apartment is pretty nice.”

 

Jonghyun scoffed and held his hand to his chest in mock offense, jaw hanging loose but smile still in his eyes. They laughed together again only for Taemin’s face to fall when he noticed they were already at his apartment complex. Maybe he could just keep walking forward and Jonghyun wouldn’t notice…

 

“Oh we’re here already.” Jonghyun said and Taemin cursed inside his head. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet, he didn’t have work tomorrow which meant he wouldn’t see Jonghyun until the day after. It was a little concerning how fast Taemin was growing attached, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

They stood in front of the building, Taemin’s hands in his pockets and mouth beneath his scarf, Jonghyun leaning back on his heels and looking to the side, neither wanting to say goodbye yet. “Jonghyun hyung…” Taemin said, just to say it, feel how his name felt on his tongue, but now he had Jonghyun’s attention and didn’t know what to say. _I don’t want you to leave. Is that strange? Do you think I’m too clingy? I just don’t want to be away from you._ “Would you like to come inside?” Taemin was the one who said it but he was the most surprised. He’d only ever invited one other person into his apartment, and that was just because he needed his games dropped off after he left them at a friend’s house. Making requests wasn’t something he was used to, always worried about bothering the other and wasting their time. It wasn’t like he or his apartment had anything to offer them.

 

Jonghyun was only surprised for a second before he was smiling again, and Taemin couldn’t remember if his ears had always been that red from the cold or not. “I’d love to.”

 

Even before Taemin could unlock his front door, he was already questioning his choices. He hadn’t cleaned his apartment since...well, ever, actually. Is it as bad as he remembers or is he just exaggerating? Did he close the door to his bedroom this morning? Would he be able to close it before Jonghyun saw anything inside? Will he be a good host? All these thoughts swimming in his head and none of them stopped the door from opening after he pressed his passcode in.

 

“Is this your first apartment? You weren’t kidding, it _is_ really nice.” Jonghyun said as he looked around after placing his shoes at the entrance.

 

Taemin had fight his instincts to start blinking. “It is.” He replied, standing stock still at the door, wringing his hands in front of him.

 

“I lived in a goshiwon when I moved out.” Jonghyun was hanging his winter garments on the wall and Taemin wondered which one of them actually lived here. “I have a bigger place now but I think yours is still bigger.

 

Taemin’s stomach and eyes dropped to the floor. “Sorry.” It wasn’t a crime for his family to be well-off, but it felt like one. He had no right to be more privileged than others, but the universe doesn’t care about that. He just got lucky.

 

So wrapped up in his thoughts, Taemin almost fell backwards in shock when two pairs of hands started unbuttoning his jacket, Jonghyun’s face seeming so serene, like this was a regular occurance for him. Not sure what to do, Taemin let his arms hang awkwardly at his sides, heart climbing up his throat.

 

“No need to be sorry, there’s nothing wrong with having a nice home.” Jonghyun was focused on Taemin’s buttons but Taemin was focused on his concentrating face, eyebrows furrowed and jaw set. “Besides, I might just steal it from you.”

 

That was enough for Taemin to finally regain control over his body, just enough to say “Very funny, hyung.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Jonghyun hung Taemin’s coat and scarf next to his and something about that made Taemin’s heart skip a beat. “You’re the only thing I want to steal.” He pressed a quick kiss to Taemin’s cheek and grabbed his hand, no way of knowing how Taemin’s face was heating up, how his hand tightened around Jonghyun’s, how he couldn’t help the grin pulling at his lips. He led him towards the couch and Taemin barely even cared about the video games piled in the corner of the room or the rings on his coffee table from never using a coaster.

 

“You know it’s not stealing if I want you to, right?” Taemin had to look away to get that much out, face on fire, the pounding in his chest so loud he swore Jonghyun could hear it.

 

But Jonghyun showed no signs that he could when he gave Taemin a small smile, resting his arm on the back of the couch, saying “I know.”

 

Taemin could feel Jonghyun’s eyes on him, his own darting to and from Jonghyun’s face, wanting to look but too shy to do so for too long. He licked his lips, just now noticing they were as dry as his throat, and when Jonghyun stared at his tongue, he shifted in his seat, warmth from his face starting to travel downwards. “Can you blame me when I have someone as cute as you?”

 

Jonghyun saying that triggered a memory for Taemin, and he could focus again, suddenly so important that he got an answer. “You said I was cute earlier, too.” A lump formed in his throat when Jonghyun tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth felt weird when he continued, “Like, during our scene. You remember, don’t you?”

 

His expression didn’t change and Taemin was just about ready to ask him to forget about it when his face lit up. “Oh yeah, I did do that.” Taemin breathed a sigh of relief and Jonghyun went on. “I’m sorry, did that bother you? It was spur of the moment, I just thought of it.”

 

The opposite, actually, but Taemin couldn’t say that when he was already blushing this hard. “It didn’t bother me.”

 

“Oh, good.” Jonghyun placed a hand on his chest and lowered his head, and something about the way he had ended his sentence let Taemin know he still wanted to say more. “Did you like it?” He said, looking up at Taemin through his eyelashes.

 

Which, okay, Taemin couldn’t breathe. His mouth just hung open as he tried coming up with a response, but he was so warm all over, and he couldn’t do this. This is where he was supposed to say something flirty back but suddenly he forgot every word in every language he knew.

 

“Taemin-ah?” Jonghyun said, so soft, but so dark, his voice lower than normal. He’d never heard someone say in his name in that tone before and it shook him back to reality.

 

“Yes?” Taemin’s voice cracked but at least he managed to say something.

 

Instead of answering right away, Jonghyun shifted closer, wrapping one hand behind Taemin’s neck, playing with the hairs there. It felt as though Jonghyun was branding him with his palm, and Taemin couldn’t feel anything but that one area of his body. Jonghyun was still getting closer and Taemin couldn’t look away. “I really wanted to kiss you for real back there.” And there was that strange smile from before, the one Taemin wasn’t sure meant. He thinks now he might have a better idea.

 

Taemin struggled not to shut his eyes as he completely melted, and at those words, suddenly there was nothing more Taemin wanted than Jonghyun’s lips against his. “Please.” He said, and somehow that wasn’t in his head, it was out in the world. He was okay with that.

 

He only caught a glimpse of Jonghyun’s smile before it was pressed against his lips, Jonghyun’s hand pulling him in, dragging him closer. Jonghyun kept moving and Taemin didn’t know what to do, just followed his lead, humming through his nose at how warm and soft Jonghyun’s lips felt.

 

His attention was torn away for just a second when another hand was feeling across his back, stopping in the middle, pushing him forward and making him let out a little noise of surprise. Jonghyun moaned into his mouth and Taemin shivered, that one sound replaying in his ears, so perfect it traveled down to his lower stomach. He only vaguely processed that Jonghyun had pulled him onto his lap, too preoccupied with kissing Jonghyun back, trying to match his rhythm. He wrapped his fists in Jonghyun’s shirt, probably stretching it out, but he’d apologize for that later.

 

When Jonghyun’s tongue started licking along his bottom lip, he opened up without a second thought, somehow just knowing what he wanted by instinct. Taemin felt their tongues meet and he let out a choked moan, almost embarrassed, but he didn’t have time for that when Jonghyun was in his mouth, flirting with his tongue, making Taemin feel so hot he had trouble keeping still. Jonghyun’s hand was stroking up and down his back and he wanted to lean into the feeling, but he needed to be closer to Jonghyun, needed his body on his…

 

Taemin froze when he felt his hard-on against Jonghyun’s stomach. Luckily Jonghyun seemed to notice how tense he became, immediately pulled back, and Taemin almost regretted it when he no longer had Jonghyun lips on his, half a mind to pull him back in and pick up where they left off. But he’d need them to say this next thing. “Hyung.”

 

“Too much?” Jonghyun said, still stroking his back, but with the tips of his fingers instead of his whole hand. The repeating motion helped Taemin regulate his breathing and made him a little more relaxed.

 

He still had to bury his face in Jonghyun’s shoulder so he could nod and say “Yeah”, hiding his burning red face from the world. He was embarrassed that he wasn’t more experienced. He was mad at himself for not being able to go all the way and make Jonghyun feel good. He wished he was better at this relationship.

 

Jonghyun placed one hand on the side of Taemin’s face and gently coerced him into leaning back, face to face with Jonghyun now, and Taemin knew this conversation was important but he still wanted to avoid it. “I’m not going to do anything you’re not ready for.” Jonghyun said, and Taemin had to look away, hating himself for not being ready yet. But Jonghyun wasn’t having that and ran his fingers through Taemin’s bangs, and Taemin couldn’t help but melt again. “Your comfort is my top priority, I need you to want this for yourself. I can handle waiting.” Somehow he had read Taemin’s mind, and the negative thoughts started drifting away, no longer pressing down on him.

 

When Jonghyun left a kiss on his forehead, all Taemin felt was light. “Thank you, hyung.” He tried and failed not to smile, and Jonghyun immediately smiled back, and he wondered if Jonghyun thought he as cute as he found Jonghyun. Apparently he needed to hear that more than he knew.

 

“I’m just being a decent person, but thank you, baby.” Jonghyun said, beginning to shift their positions. That pet name slipped out so naturally Taemin forgot to be surprised, just let it seep into his skin and make his whole body tingle, heart beating so fast and so soothingly.

 

He couldn’t take his eyes off Jonghyun for a moment, smile still stuck on his face, and it hit him. The smile Jonghyun was giving him earlier. He knew what it was now because he was giving back the same one.

 

Adoration.

 

“Would you like to watch a movie? I can get you a drink or make snacks.” Taemin offered, wanting to keep Jonghyun here with him as long as possible, needing this flutter in his chest to stay longer. Because Jonghyun adored him and he adored Jonghyun. He didn’t even care if they didn’t talk, just his presence was all he wanted, knowing he was there whenever Taemin turned his head, it was more than enough.

 

Jonghyun’s smile was answer enough but he still said out loud “I would love to, Taemin-ah.” And Taemin beamed, bouncing off of the couch and heading straight for the kitchen, grabbing all his favorite snacks. “You’re not cooking though, right?” Jonghyun called from the other room.

 

“No, do you want me to?” Taemin replied.

 

“Please don’t.” Jonghyun sounded exhausted, which Taemin thought was a little unnecessary. At least he liked his cooking most of the time. Not his fault other people thought the idea of honey in ramyeon was disgusting, it still tasted okay to him.

 

But then again, he did eat ants as a kid.

 

...on second thought, he’ll just listen to Jonghyun this time.


End file.
